


Contingency Plan

by shinysylver



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Choices, Clones, Comic References, Force Ghost Ben Solo, Getting Together, Healing, Hux starts his own cartel, Identity Issues, M/M, Moving On, Organized Crime, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Second Chances, Serious Injuries, The Force, pulmonodes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:41:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28512072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinysylver/pseuds/shinysylver
Summary: Stranded and injured in the aftermath of the Battle of Exegol, Hux wasn’t supposed to be alive, but he would do anything to survive, even wake up the clone of Kylo Ren he finds in Palpatine’s secret lab.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 16
Kudos: 73
Collections: Kylux Big Bang 2020





	Contingency Plan

**Author's Note:**

> This is my submission for the 2020 Kylux Big Bang. 2020 was a hard year to keep focused on writing so the fact that I completed this story is a huge personal accomplishment. I am so grateful to the mods who were very patient with me. 
> 
> I was partnered with the very talented niibeth who made some beautiful artwork to accompany the fic. The art is embedded below, but please check out their art post and leave them feedback here:
> 
> [Art Post](https://niibeth.tumblr.com/post/639275546497384448/illustrations-2020)
> 
> Many thanks need to go to my beta huxandthehound for making this fic so much better. This fic in particular needed all the tender loving care it could get and I am grateful you took the time to work with me on it.

**Part One: Exegol**

The first thing he was aware of was pain. Hux wasn't a stranger to pain, but this? This pain was beyond anything he'd ever experienced before. He made the mistake of trying to sit up to get his bearings, and a wave of intense agony washed over him until darkness rushed in all around him. 

An indeterminate amount of time later--it could have been minutes or hours--he woke up again, struggling to breathe. It felt like something was on his chest, pressing him down, but when he reached up--slowly this time--to push it away there was nothing. He carefully explored his chest with his fingers, gritting his teeth against the pain. At least he was prepared for it this time.

The raw wounds and the melted fabric of the burnt uniform triggered the unpleasant memory of taking a kill shot to the chest at the hands of Pryde. Thanks to his paranoia he'd taken to wearing a blaster-proof vest ever since Ren became Supreme Leader and started transferring out Hux's loyal men as a way to isolate him. But even though the vest saved his life, the bolt had clearly done a lot of damage. The vests weren't capable of fully deflecting close-range shots.

Remembering what happened still didn't explain where he was, but the acrid smoke in the air and far off cries of pain didn't bode well. A loud crash sounded nearby and he forced himself to open his eyes.

The sky above him was lit up in battle. Small Resistance ships darted through the lower atmosphere as they attacked the larger Final Order ships. Hux had been a soldier for most of his life, but he'd never seen anything quite like the battle unfolding above him. Apparently, the Battle for Exegol was well underway and his intel had actually given the Resistance a fighting chance.

He didn't know how he felt about that. 

He tore his gaze away from the sky and turned his head just enough to take stock of his more immediate surroundings. Smoldering wreckage was scattered all around him, including what looked like the remains of a warden droid. Seeing the droid brought back hazy memories of being transferred to a prison transport when they realized Pryde's shot hadn't killed him. Apparently, that transport ship had been shot down and he'd been lucky enough to be thrown free instead of trapped in the fire. 

"Lucky," Hux muttered sarcastically. He'd been shot twice in one day, arrested, and survived a crash landing during the largest naval battle he'd ever seen. He wasn't sure if he wanted this kind of luck. 

But he _did_ want to live. Survival had always been his primary objective. 

He took stock of his body, carefully moving each of his fingers and toes. In an ideal world, he would stay here until rescue arrived, but this was far from an ideal world. He doubted that either the Final Order or the Resistance would care much about his continued survival; he'd managed to make an enemy of both.

Once he was as certain as he could be that he didn't have spinal damage, he grabbed a nearby length of pipe and used it to support himself as he struggled to his feet. His injured leg couldn't hold much weight, but the real issue was the pain in his chest that overrode everything else. The damage forced him to breathe shallowly. The lack of oxygen coupled with the pain caused darkness to encroach on the edges of his vision, but he managed to stay conscious this time.

"You will not fall," Hux murmured to himself. He'd learned at an early age how to exert his willpower over the weakness of his body. This was no different.

Once he felt stable, he set off for the only place he could hope to find a way off of this damn planet--Palpatine's Citadel. Thankfully it was nearby.

Hux leaned heavily on his makeshift cane as he moved through the wreckage of his ship, only stopping long enough to retrieve a working blaster from the mangled body of an officer. He glanced at the pale face with lifeless eyes that seemed to gaze eerily into his, but didn't recognize the man. The higher ranks had been replaced by Palpatine Loyalists and the result of that stupid decision was unfolding in the skies above him. Turning away from science and strategy in favor of a mystical cult of personality had been their downfall. 

He passed a few survivors, but most of them were gravely injured. None of them paid him any attention as he dragged himself through the rubble, but he was afraid that if word of his betrayal had spread far enough that someone would recognize him and take their anger out on him. 

Once he reached the Citadel, he was surprised to find the entrance unguarded. The large metal doors were open without a soul in sight. It seemed almost too good to be true, but he slipped inside as quietly as possible just in case. The air inside was stifling. The scent of ozone hung in the air and it felt charged as if a lightning storm had just occurred. He recognized it as the byproduct of a massive Force event that he wanted no part of. He'd already witnessed more Force events than his skeptical mind could handle. 

His hand rose absently to his throat. It was already hard to breathe, but just thinking about the Force made it worse. He swore that he could feel ghostly fingers wrapped cruelly around his neck. Ren was hopefully dead, but apparently still haunting him. 

Hux dropped his hand and curled it into a fist at his side. This wasn't the time for dwelling on the past. Besides, he'd evened the score with Ren. The battle outside proved it. Even if Ren had managed to survive, he would no longer be Supreme Leader. Hux had _won_.

An anguished wailing rose up, echoing through the Citadel. The sound was eerie and ghostlike, many voices joined together in pained desperation. According to his intel, Palpatine had a cult of worshippers--the Sith Eternal--that numbered in the hundreds if not thousands, and their misery told him all that he needed to know. The true battle was over and the scavenger had won. The pieces he'd set into motion had finally come to fruition. 

Of course, Hux wasn't entirely unsympathetic to their pain. After all, he'd lost faith in nearly everything over the last year, but unlike those feeble adherents to an outdated religion, he'd never given into despair. He wasn't that pathetic. 

He moved away from the noise, taking the twisting hallways as fast as he could manage with his injured body. Unfortunately, FN-2187 had done serious damage to his mobility by shooting his leg instead of his arm and it kept wanting to give out under his weight. The traitor had never been able to properly follow orders. 

He shook his head wryly. _Traitor_. He supposed he couldn't really refer to FN-2187 that way any longer unless he wanted to paint himself with the same brush. 

A shout behind him had him quicken his pace to something resembling a slow jog, relying on adrenaline to dull his pain and keep him upright. 

A sharp pain shot up his leg with every step he took, but he just needed to stay upright for long enough to find some medical supplies. All he had to do was patch himself up and then find a shuttle with the ability to navigate off of this cursed planet. Simple.

Hux ducked down an abandoned corridor. 

The corridor he'd been following came to a dead-end in front of a locked door. Hux let his dagger slide out of his sleeve and into the palm of his hand as he examined the control panel. The signs were in the unfamiliar characters of the Sith language, but it was easy enough to hack the lock. 

Ren had always seen him as useless, but he was far from it. His technology prowess had been unparalleled amongst the First Order officers--even before they'd all died in battle. Just because he couldn’t massacre an entire colony in a berserk rage didn’t mean he was incompetent. 

The door slid open slowly, the shrill sound of unoiled gears making Hux wince. He glanced down the corridor, but the sound didn’t seem to have drawn anyone's attention. He slipped into the room and froze in place.

Lining the walls were tanks, similar to the bacta tanks that had been so prevalent during the last war. In each tank was a person. The tank closest to him held an infant, barely more than a fetus floating eerily in the center of the thick bacta. The next tank had a toddler, a small boy with a shock of black hair that floated in the gel like a halo.

Hux limped forward, looking into the tanks—young child, older child, teenager—his suspicions grew the farther he went. He paused at the teenager's tank and scanned the familiar features. He let out a heavy sigh, regretting it as his broken ribs screamed in protest. “I can never escape you can I?”

There was no longer any room for doubt when he moved on to the next tank. In front of him was a young Kylo Ren, looking surprisingly innocent all things considered. He looked nearly the age he'd been when Hux had first met him, but Ren had certainly never looked that peaceful in Hux's memory. 

Not that Hux allowed himself to revisit those memories often. 

Hux lingered for a moment, the figure before him, triggering the memory of their first meeting. Long before he'd been an arrogant and abusive Supreme Leader, Ren had been a young hotshot, wild with his first taste of freedom after a lifetime of Jedi monasticism--not that Hux had known that then. That rebellious freedom had led him to Hux's bed twice during those first few months. 

At the time, he'd thought he'd finally found a powerful ally, but it didn't take long for his hopes to be dashed. Instead, Snoke's new apprentice had proven himself to be nothing but a temperamental boy. Looking at him now it hit Hux just how young he'd actually been. Just a few years past twenty and completely inexperienced in the ways of the world outside of his monastery upbringing.

Not that that excused anything. Youth was a luxury Hux had never been granted. 

He shook his head and moved on to the final tank. This Ren was the one Hux knew and loathed. His face was scar-free and smooth, but otherwise, he was identical to the man Hux had seen just yesterday. 

He turned his back on the tanks and sat down at the control panel in the center of the room. Unlike the signage, the data banks were in Basic and he quickly skimmed through the history of Palpatine's cloning program. Apparently, Ren's near-death on Starkiller Base had prompted Palpatine to make contingency plans. 

It appeared that Snoke had directed the medics to do a full mental map of Ren while they were treating his wounds. The science behind it was beyond Hux--an unsettling mixture of neurobiology and Sith mysticism--but the end result was a clone with Ren's personality and his memories from a year ago. 

Hux opened more files, reading through the history of the program. Apparently, the Sith cultists had nearly perfected their cloning process over the years and the Kylo Ren clones should be exact replicas without the same deformities and weaknesses as the Snoke clones. Those had been nothing more than an experiment, trying to genetically engineer the perfect place holder until they could revive Palpatine. 

He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Snoke clones_. All these years he'd been obeying the orders of a genetically engineered puppet. 

There were references to the Palpatine Project, but those data files appeared to be missing so he flipped back to the programming section. Unlike the Snokes, the Kylo clones hadn't been altered. Apparently, any alterations to his genetics or his personality had the potential to hinder his ability to use the Force--a problem that many of the Snoke clones had faced--or make him too mentally unstable to function. 

Hux snorted at that. Ren was already too mentally unstable to function; it was hard to imagine he could be even worse. 

During the Clone Wars, clones had been created with alterations to make them loyal and compliant. For one brief moment, Hux allowed himself to indulge in a daydream where he was able to create a tractable, subservient Ren that would follow his orders. Unfortunately, the algorithms were too complex for him to even guess at how they could be altered. He'd be just as likely to emphasize Ren's berserk rage as he was to neuter it.

Hux leaned back, staring at the Ren in the last tank. All this time working to destroy Ren and there was another one waiting in the wings. It all felt so pointless. 

He couldn't deny that he was in a tight spot, though. Without medical care and a shuttle, he wouldn't have any hope of surviving the week, but even if he managed to procure a shuttle he doubted that he could fly it off this damn planet and back to known space. The anomalies were beyond his skill to navigate. 

Hux read the report on the Ren clone again. It had been created with the memories and personality intact from just after the failure at Starkiller Base. Ren had been even more erratic then, unmoored by killing his father and fighting the scavenger, but he had not yet stepped into the role of Supreme Leader. He and Hux had still been equals.

Well, as much as they'd ever been with the Force looming between them. 

Hux rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He'd worked so hard to finally beat Ren that the idea of reviving him was ludicrous. He'd managed to win by destroying the Order that Ren had perverted and assisting the Resistance to ensure that Ren would lose the throne he'd stolen. 

He didn't think he could do it all again. But, maybe, he could manipulate the situation to better suit him this time. Or at the very least, he could get a shuttle to take him far away from Ren once they got off this blasted planet. Besides, it wasn't like he had other options. Survival was always his first imperative. 

Hux took a deep, painful breath and entered the sequence to wake up the mature clone. 

**

Kylo jerked up with a gasp, his hand flying to his face. He expected pain or at least a scar, but the skin of his cheek was smooth. He dropped his hands to the bowcaster wound on his abdomen, but it wasn't there either. In fact, there didn't seem to be a single scar on his body, not even the burn scars on his hands that had been there since he'd wielded his first lightsaber as an apprentice to Skywalker. 

He held his hands up in front of his face. They were soft, years of hard-earned calluses gone. He rubbed his fingers together, examining the clear viscous fluid that seemed to cover his entire body. It reminded him of bacta, but he'd never heard of bacta being able to erase old scars. 

"Here." Hux handed him a stack of clothes. "Get dressed and I'll explain the situation."

Kylo narrowed his eyes at Hux, trying to get a read on the man. He was still disoriented from whatever medical procedure he'd just been subjected to and while he could sense the Force he couldn't seem to tap into it the way he normally could. 

He closed his eyes and reached out into the Force, trying to find the problem, and was confronted by a thick haze separating him from the great well of Force energy that surrounded all things. Painkillers and other mood-altering drugs could make the Force harder to access. Perhaps they'd drugged him for his healing, although he felt clear-headed. 

Since Kylo could sense the Force through the haze, he pushed his mind outward, hard enough that he managed to break through and touch the familiar flow. Keeping his mind focused on holding onto the flow of energy, he stretched his consciousness out, seeking his lodestars. But instead, he found a vast emptiness where there had once been life. Snoke. His mother. They were both gone. The two touchstones that his life had been built on were missing, a sensation of loss in their place. 

His eyes snapped open and he stretched out a hand, intending to grab Hux by the throat and demand answers. What should have been an easy task, one he'd done hundreds of times over the years, failed as he felt his connection to the Force slip away. 

Hux raised an eyebrow at him and Kylo dropped his hand fast, trying to ignore the embarrassed heat rushing to his face. The last thing he needed was to look weak in front of Hux. Especially with the Force behaving erratically. 

For the first time in his life, he couldn't trust the Force--not to respond to him and certainly not to show him the truth. He may not sense Snoke or his mother, but he couldn't sense much of anything at all. He held onto that thought to avoid thinking about the alternative.

He glanced around the room, trying to get his bearings. Now that he was paying more attention he realized that it didn't resemble any medical ward he'd ever been in. "Where are--"

He cut off in mid-thought when his eyes landed on the tanks. 

"The Order lost," Hux said, his voice clipped and devoid of all emotion. "There was a backup plan."

Kylo slid off of the table, too distracted by the tanks to take much notice of his nudity, the clothes that Hux had given him falling to the floor. He crossed the room and stood in front of the tank that held a younger version of himself. "Where are we?"

"Exegol," Hux answered.

"The hidden world of the Sith," Kylo murmured, not taking his eyes off of the body in the tank. The tank next to it was empty, the glass still streaked with what appeared to be the same fluid that was on his skin. 

His mind shied away from the implications and he turned quickly, not able to look at the tanks any longer. "Explain now."

Hux's eyes drifted down for a moment before snapping back up to Kylo's face. His cheeks were flushed with irritation or arousal--without the Force connection, Kylo couldn't tell and didn't care--but he straightened as much as he was able with the cane and gave his report. "Snoke is dead. Emperor Palpatine was resurrected by a cult that calls themselves the Sith Eternal. We are stranded on this planet with them." 

Kylo did the best he could to keep his face blank and not show his growing shock with each word. How had everything gone so very wrong? "What happened to the Emperor?"

Hux shrugged, the gesture making him wince and drew Kylo's attention to his injuries. Not only was he using a cane, but his chest was covered in blaster burns, parts of his jacket little more than cinders. "The cult is in disarray so I assume the scavenger took care of him."

"Rey?" Kylo asked. The girl had been strong in the Force, but completely untrained when they'd fought on Starkiller. It was hard to imagine her taking down Darth Sidious. Of course, a resurrected Sith Lord was likely weaker than the original and the original had been bested by his idiot uncle. Perhaps he wasn't as fearsome as the stories told. "How long has it been?"

"One year," Hux answered. 

Kylo furrowed his brow and turned back to the tank and the familiar face, looking so very, very young. He couldn't remember ever looking that innocent. He tapped the glass with one finger. "And these. Tell me about these."

"I told you there was a backup plan," Hux said. "Apparently you are Plan B. I assume the Kylo Ren in the tank in front of you is Plan C."

Plan B. He was Plan B. Kylo crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly feeling chilled to his core in a way that had nothing to do with his state of undress. He turned his back on the tank and retrieved his fallen clothes. 

Kylo dressed quickly, trying to ignore the staggering implication of Hux's words. The clothes were familiar--black pants and tunic. He'd worn them every day for the past five years. 

Or at least that's what his brain was trying to tell him. But if Hux was right, it was all a lie and every single one of his memories belonged to someone else. 

"What happened to _him_?" Kylo asked softly, focusing on lacing up his boots so that he didn't have to look at Hux. 

"I don't know," Hux answered. "Ren left the ship before the battle. I don't know where he went."

Kylo's connection to the Force may be erratic, but he could still sense the truth in Hux's words. He could also tell it wasn't the full truth. He was keeping secrets, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. "Why did you wake me?"

Hux hated Kylo. He wouldn't have awakened a clone of him without good reason. Without Snoke to answer to, Kylo would have expected Hux to leave him behind. 

"Exegol is located in the Unknown Regions, hidden from the rest of the Galaxy by a series of anomalies that are nearly impossible to navigate."

"And you hope I'll take you with me?"

Hux pursed his lips as if he'd swallowed something sour. "You need me. You have no idea what's happened in the last year."

Kylo wandered over to the control panel, trying to access the files but all that came up were error messages. 

"I also deleted all information on the clones," Hux said, his voice sharp. "Without me, you'll never learn anything more."

Kylo was fairly certain he could torture the information out of Hux--the man never liked to be uncomfortable--but it wasn't worth it. At least not now. He gestured to the tanks lining the wall. "Very well. But before we go, kill them."

"They can't function without the mental map, which I deleted," Hux said. There was a cagey look in his eyes that Kylo didn't need the Force to interpret. Hux had a back-up plan that probably involved that mental map and the next clone down the line.

"Kill them all," Kylo repeated. "Or I will and I won't be quiet about it."

Hux sighed, the action triggering a painful sounding coughing fit, and hobbled over to the control panel. He keyed in a few commands and then paused with his hand hovering over the buttons. "We should study them."

"We who?" Kylo asked, mildly. He could see the moment it truly hit Hux how alone he was. Fear and pain flashed across his face and settled into an expression of grief before he caught himself. All at once, his expression blanked. 

Hux pressed the last button. "Very well."

Kylo watched just long enough to see the lights go out and the fluid beginning to drain from the tanks, before leaving the room. He didn't need to watch them die. He just needed to know that he was the only one. 

It ended with him.

**

Hux watched Ren leave the room, waiting until he was entirely gone to pocket the storage crystal. He'd set the information to transfer while Ren was waking up and his delay had given it just enough time to finish. 

While he wouldn't mind studying the clones, Ren was right. He no longer had a science division at his beck and call. However, that didn't mean he would let so much valuable data go to waste. 

That accomplished, Hux took off after Ren, moving as fast as his broken body would allow. He struggled to keep up with Ren as he led the way through the twisting corridors. Ren never rushed anywhere, preferring to stalk at a pace that displayed his cloak to the best effect. Even now, with no cloak, he held himself as if he were wearing one. But while his pace had never been too much for Hux in the past, he kept falling further and further behind now. 

Ren was out of sight, but he'd been heading toward the center of the Citadel.

He paused for a moment, leaning heavily on his cane. He couldn't afford to let his injuries slow him down or he'd end up abandoned here to fend for himself. 

"You!" A loud voice was the only warning he got before a blaster bolt scarred the wall next to him a dark black.

Hux spun as fast as he could and found himself face to face with two men in Final Order uniforms. Their faces were vaguely familiar to him, probably low-level officers under Pryde's command. He didn't take the time to find out, shooting them both before they had a chance to let loose another shot. His aim was true and they both fell, burns scarring their chest. 

The idiots should have taken him out without shouting a warning. And their aim was abysmal. _His_ officers wouldn't have made those rookie mistakes. The Final Order deserved what it got.

Hux leaned against the rough wall for a minute, trying to calm his breathing to stop the painful burning. If Ren hadn't run off and left him behind this wouldn't have happened at all. Reviving a clone was supposed to help him escape, not make it harder.

Once he could breathe again without stars dancing in front of his eyes, Hux took off toward what was likely the throne room. Ren better not leave him behind again.

**

Kylo froze in front of the throne, staring down at the familiar black clothing. He'd felt a pull to this room and assumed it was the throne--the seat of the Sith Eternal--that had drawn him, but he'd been wrong. He slowly knelt down next to the pile of clothes and cautiously reached out a hand to touch the tunic. 

A jolt ran up his fingers the moment they brushed the fabric and he jerked his hand away. He shook it absently as he stared at the clothes. He'd never experienced anything like an electric shock from an inanimate object before. Especially not from a mundane piece of clothing that his memories told him he'd worn every day for years. 

He took a deep breath and reached out again. There wasn't a jolt this time, but his connection to the Force felt suddenly stronger. The world around him snapped into sharper focus and for just a moment he could see a hazy outline, like an afterimage in the Force.

Instead of the abandoned clothing, he saw what appeared to be himself. That other Kylo was desperately clutching Rey's lifeless body to his chest and he could feel the moment that he decided to sacrifice himself for her. He watched in horror as that other version of himself poured every last bit of his life force into her. 

Kylo jerked away from the clothing again, scrambling back several feet to get as far away from it as he could. Whatever he'd just seen wasn't him. Would never _be_ him.

"Ren?" Hux's voice interrupted his spiraling thoughts. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Kylo scowled at Hux, pleased when he flinched. The last thing he needed was for Hux to assume he was weak. He missed his mask and the freedom it gave him to hide his expressions. "Something like that."

He stood up smoothly and stalked out of the room, not letting himself look back. The other Kylo--no that was Ben Solo, Kylo would never have been that weak--may have thought that dying here was a noble choice, but he knew better. Ben had just chosen a new way to run away. 

But Kylo Ren? He was growing tired of running away. 

Now that he'd touched Ben's clothing he recognized the faint pull he felt in the Force as belonging to him. It didn't take much for him to follow that impression of Ben, back through the twisting corridors of the Citadel. For whatever reason, the path Ben had walked tugged at him. However, when he tried to reach out and touch it with the Force, his mind slid away like it had done before. 

"Where are the Sith Cultists?" Hux asked, peering into the shadows of the room. "I assumed they would be in the throne room."

Kylo shrugged. "The battle probably drove them away. It appears to have been vast."

Hux wrinkled his nose. "I can smell the lightning."

Kylo took a deep breath. The smell of ozone after a storm was strong in the room. He'd been so focused on trying to sense things in the Force that he'd ignored his more natural instincts. 

"Indeed," Kylo said. He turned around and started following the path in the Force that Ben had left behind. "This way."

He followed the trail through a dark hallway that had been carved into the rock itself, more cave-like than the hallways above. The terrain was growing rougher and he slowed his pace slightly so that Hux wouldn't get left behind again. 

After several long minutes, the narrow corridor opened up into a vast cavern-like room with several bodies lying on the ground. Bodies that he recognized.

"What happened here?" Hux asked. He poked the nearest body with his makeshift cane. 

Kylo could still smell the burnt flesh from the lightsaber battle lingering in the air. "Ben Solo."

Hux looked up from Vikrul and gave Kylo a long look. "I suppose that does make it easier to keep the two of you separate."

Kylo gave Hux a sharp look. He clearly knew more about what Ben had been up to than he'd let on. He showed no surprise that Ben had killed his own followers. He had no doubt that whatever secrets Hux was keeping directly involved Ben Solo's actions. He just wasn't sure if he really wanted to know what they were.

He shook his head slightly and turned his back on his former followers. They'd been useful tools, but it had been a long time since he'd felt anything more for them. He was no longer a naive youth who sought belonging at the feet of Ren. They'd made their own fate when they chose to attack Ben. As much as he disapproved of Ben's choices, he had been their leader, not Palpatine. They should never have turned on him. 

He stepped over Ushar's body and made his way in the direction of the exit he'd sensed, relieved that Hux chose not to comment and followed along behind him. Hux's already slow gait was slowing more and he was wheezing and struggling to breathe by the time they reached the exit, but he managed to keep up. 

"If there was a ship here it's gone," Hux said. He leaned against the wall, his face paler than normal. 

Kylo frowned at him. "Wait here. I'll find a shuttle and come back for you."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"You still hold all the information, remember?" Kylo tilted his head at Hux. "Besides, you're just slowing me down."

Hux scowled. "I hate you."

**

Hux sat down and propped himself against the wall. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing. He'd been trying to hide just how hurt he was in front of Ren, but now that he was alone he could try to actually rest for a minute. 

One of the first things he'd learned as a child was how to block out pain. Unfortunately, the most useful techniques involved breathing exercises that he just couldn't manage right now. 

If he survived this he was going to make sure no one ever hurt him again. It was a vow he'd made before and yet he'd continued to fall into a subservient position. At the end of the day, there wasn't much difference between his father and Snoke. Or Ren.

Things grew a bit fuzzy and he must have dozed off--or passed out--because the next thing he knew, he was being startled awake by a hand on his shoulder. Ren's touch wasn't gentle, but it wasn't harsh either. 

Ren withdrew his hand and Hux blinked up at him. He still wasn't used to the lack of scar. Until he'd become Supreme Leader, Ren had rarely taken off his mask. Hux could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen him without it before that--and two of those times were better left forgotten. 

"So you _are_ alive," Ren said, his voice dry. 

"Disappointed?" Hux asked. He struggled to his feet, refusing to show how much it hurt to move.

Ren shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me either way."

That stung more than it should. Hux had been actively arranging Ren's death, meanwhile, Ren didn't even hate him enough to want him to die. He knew it was irrational, but after everything, he wished Ren would at least hate him. Disinterest was worse than hate.

Hux stood as straight as he could manage. "Did you find a ship?"

Ren inclined his head to the side and sure enough, there was a battered-looking shuttle that Hux doubted could make it out of orbit let alone back to known space. "Are you sure that can fly?"

"Feel free to stay here."

Frankly, he was surprised that Ren had bothered to come back for him at all. He knew that holding the clone information hostage was a weak threat. Any time he wanted to, Ren could rip the knowledge from his mind.

Hux remembered Ren's hand hovering in the air for a moment before dropping. He'd flushed as if he was embarrassed. Maybe Ren couldn't rip that knowledge from his mind after all. Hux smiled, his day suddenly looking up. If the Sith scientists were wrong and the clone couldn't use the Force after all then the playing field was a lot more even.

"Lead the way," Hux said, gesturing toward the shuttle. 

**

Kylo's patchy connection to the Force--almost like a radio signal coming in and out of range, more static than transmission--was making it very difficult to avoid the anomalies. If it wasn't for the markers left behind by the Resistance they would have already died at least three times over. The fact that he was dependent on Rey to make it through irritated him.

"Is this really the best ship you could find?" Hux asked. He was pale and holding on to the seat with a white-knuckled grip as the shuttle jerked in the turbulence.

"It flies," Kylo snapped, trying to focus on their path. If he'd had his choice he would be flying his silencer--it would have responded to his maneuvers like a dream--but instead, he was stuck flying a clunky shuttle with a malfunctioning right engine. It had never been intended for this kind of flying, but unlike the Force, his skills as a pilot hadn't been hindered. He didn't need the Force to fly, it just made it easier. After all, his father had managed just fine. 

_Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish like his father. So I destroyed him._

Kylo's hands clenched as the thought of his father brought back those words. He'd said them right before he'd--

"If that's what you call this," Hux said, gasping out in pain as Kylo's distraction caused the shuttle to move suddenly down, jerking him up into the restraints. 

Kylo pushed thoughts of his father from his mind, relegating them to the dark corner with everything else he didn't want to think about. Hux probably couldn't survive his distraction. He'd used the shuttle's medical supplies to slather his chest in bacta and bandage it, but there hadn't been anything to help with the internal injuries. He was going to need to find a doctor as soon as they made it back to civilization. 

"We're almost clear."

Several minutes later they were finally out of the Unknown Regions and Kylo keyed in the coordinates for Tatooine. It was just the sort of backwater where they could find another ship without too many questions being asked. He turned on the autopilot and turned his chair toward Hux, his hand extended palm up. "The clone files?"

"How did you know--" Hux sneered defiantly before his shoulders slumped. "What's to keep you from ditching me the moment I hand it over?"

Kylo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Hux was even more paranoid than he remembered him from a year ago. "What good would it do me to eject you into space when I can just drop you off on Tatooine in an hour?"

Hux stared at his outstretched hand for a moment longer, his face sour, before digging a small data crystal out of his pocket. He dropped it into Kylo's hand. "There's not much here. According to the data you are identical to the original Ren and should be able to do anything he could. The cloning is so perfect, that it's scientifically impossible to replicate without the addition of Sith alchemical nonsense."

Hux sounded as though the very idea of mixing mysticism with science offended him on a deep level. 

"It's not nonsense," Kylo said as he plugged the chip into the control panel so that he could peruse the data. He wasn't well versed in Sith alchemy, but if it could solve his problem with the Force he'd figure it out. 

Hux wrinkled his nose in distaste. "It's all nonsense, but feel free to waste your life on it. It's no longer my concern."

"It was never your concern."

Hux didn't bother replying to that, instead tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He was trying to look like he was taking a casual nap, but Kylo could see the sweat beading on his forehead. Hux would be lucky to survive the short trip to Tatooine. 

He tore his eyes away and returned his focus to the clone data, but Hux was right. According to the Sith Eternal scientists, he should be a fully functioning clone--Force included. He ripped the crystal out of the control panel in frustration but managed to keep himself from crushing it the way he'd like. Instead, he carefully stored it away in his pocket, just in case.

By the time they landed on Tatooine, Hux was unconscious. Kylo shook his shoulder. "Wake up."

There was no response, although Kylo could feel his life force still burning. His hand lingered on Hux's shoulder and it reminded him of what he saw Ben do to Rey in his vision. 

He hesitated, but his curiosity got the best of him and he lightly rested his hand on Hux's chest. He'd been so focused on the Dark Side that he'd never even imagined that he could be capable of using the Force to heal. He tentatively reached out, trying to survey the damage. Through the static, he could sense just how close to death Hux was growing. 

Kylo withdrew his hand as if it had been burned, clenching it into a fist.

He had no desire to die for Hux. It was one thing to honor his word and help Hux escape Exegol, but it was another to risk his own life to heal him. He'd fulfilled his obligation and brought Hux to Tatooine. It would be easy to just leave Hux in an alley somewhere and let nature take its course. If their roles were reversed, he doubted that Hux would hesitate to abandon him for dead. 

But the longer he stared at Hux's pale face, his cheekbones flushed with the beginnings of a fever, the more he hesitated. He reached out slowly and pushed Hux's copper-colored hair off of his forehead. Looking at him like this reminded him of times best forgotten. He certainly didn't owe anything to Hux, but abandoning him didn't sit right. 

Maybe it wasn't even about those past memories from a body that wasn't his own. The other Kylo--Ben, he mentally corrected--might not owe Hux anything, but _he_ did. He owed Hux for awakening him. It may have been a deeply selfish act, but Kylo felt he owed him for it nonetheless. 

Mind made up, Kylo asked the attendant who was refueling his shuttle where he could find a discrete doctor. She gave him a suspicious look before giving him directions to a nearby practice. 

He got a lot of looks as he carried Hux through the narrow, dusty alleys, but the first rule of life on the Outer Rim was to never ask questions. Thankfully the doctor wasn't too far from the shuttle dock. 

"Pay upfront," the short, grey-haired woman said the moment she opened the door and got a look at Hux. 

Kylo brushed past her and set Hux down on the exam table. A quick perusal of the room revealed a surprising array of modern medical tools and supplies. Despite the backwater location, this woman practiced proper medicine. Hux might just have a chance. 

Unfortunately, Kylo didn't have any money, and what little they had to trade had already gone to the attendant for refueling and repairs on the shuttle. He turned his entire attention to the doctor and raised up his hand. "You don't need money."

"Of course I fucking need money," the woman snapped.

Kylo closed his eyes. Hux's life depended on his ability to do this. He reached out into the Force again, ready to fight his way past the blockage, only this time the barrier that had been blocking his access seemed to part easily. He felt the power of the Force swirling around him and filling him as he spoke, "You don't need money."

"I don't need money," the woman repeated, her voice sounding far away.

"You'll treat this man."

"I'll treat this man."

"You won't remember I was here."

"I won't remember you were here."

The doctor turned away from Kylo and began a thorough examination of Hux's chest. Kylo watched for a moment, feeling strangely reluctant to leave. It felt wrong parting like this, as if something was left unfinished between them.

 _Ridiculous_. He shook his head and left the building, heading back toward the spaceport. Hux had been an irritation for years and he knew the feeling was mutual. He'd gone above and beyond expectation and now Hux finally got his wish--a life without Kylo in it.

Once his shuttle was refueled and painted to hide the Final Order markings, he took off again. There would be no mistaking the origin of his ship, but in the aftermath of Exegol plenty of scavengers would be repurposing abandoned ships. It was the way of life in the Outer Rim.

The ship orbited the desert planet while he stared at the control panel. He wasn't sure where to go. It had been years since he'd first hovered in space without a destination or a plan, but he seemed to have found himself back to where he'd started.

Kylo closed his eyes and reached out into the Force, this time the barrier was back in place, even more impenetrable than before. He didn't know why it had worked on the planet, but not now. Whatever was wrong with his connection to the Force wasn't going away and he needed answers.

The last time he'd been this lost he'd gone to Snoke. That wasn't an option now--nor would he have sought answers from Palpatine's puppet even if he were alive--but he _could_ go back to where he'd first learned to embrace the Dark Side.

Mind made up, he keyed in the coordinates for the Rarlech System. 

**Part 2: Crait**

Kylo crouched down and ran his fingers over the jagged shard of rock that was standing out of the ground. The entire moon was nothing but barren rock, but even though it had been years, he could still remember what this one in particular looked like rushing up at him as he fell. There was no doubt that this was the spot.

He stood up and kicked the rock, taking satisfaction in the way it shattered into dozens of pieces. He hadn't thought to do it at the time, so overwhelmed by fear from falling. That fear and self-reliance had been the first lesson Snoke taught him as his master, although he probably would have preferred Kylo to react with a destructive rage. It had taken him longer to shape Kylo's fear so that instead of wanting to run, he channeled it all into the burning anger that brought him one step closer to a true embrace of the Dark Side.

Kylo closed his eyes, trying to reach back to that day.

_Are you afraid?_

He'd been stupid enough to deny it. Stupid enough to think a training exercise with Snoke would be a controlled, safe thing like it would have been with Skywalker. 

But Snoke's method _had_ worked. The fear had been a visceral thing that had made him reach out into the Force to stop his fall. 

Kylo opened his eyes and glanced up at the cliff Snoke had stood on as he watched him fall. He wasn't stupid enough to jump off it now, hoping that his issues with the Force would fix themselves in time to save his life. He wasn't that stupid any longer.

Snoke would say he lacked faith. 

He shook his head. Snoke was a snake, nothing but a manipulative puppet serving Palpatine. He didn't know much about what had happened in the last year, but he had figured that much out from the cloning files Hux had left him with. 

The more he thought about the past, the more he was surprised to recall how little of his fear had to do with the fall. Most of his fear had been directed at Snoke and the realization that he'd gotten in over his head. He'd been so naive, leaving everything he'd known behind. That was the day he'd decided he would do whatever he had to do to learn from Snoke, but he would never trust him. 

He'd proven that later in the cave on Dagobah when Snoke had wanted him to kill the vision of his parents. Kylo may have been a lot of things, but he had never been a mere puppet. He'd made his own choices. 

He shook his head hard. Those events may have been his past, or as close to a past as a clone born just yesterday could have, but wasting time on Ben's choices wasn't going to help him fix his connection to the Force. The only reason that he'd come here was to see if the history woven into this place could help him tear through the barrier blocking him from fully accessing the Force. 

He cleared a space on the ground and sat down, crossing his legs into a meditation pose. The moon was perfect for meditation, the air completely still and no life forms to distract him. 

The Force was everywhere, in all things, but there were some places where the Force was stronger. Places so full of life or so stained with the past that they had become steeped in energy. This was one such place--the place where Snoke taught the true depths of fear to a naive Ben Solo--the place where fate was shaped. 

It had been his first lesson in the Dark Side: fear led to anger which led to power. 

Turning his thoughts deeper inward, he gathered up all of his fears and brought them to the forefront of his mind. Snoke had taught him to embrace the fear, letting it fill him and taunt him with his inadequacies. Only once he'd let the fear in could he let his anger destroy it. 

After all this time rage was an old friend of his and the fear he'd been carrying since he'd woken up in this strange new future was quickly subsumed by it, replaced by his anger at Snoke's betrayal. Snoke had used him, stealing his very thoughts to create clones. 

He'd long since lost any childish beliefs that Snoke cared about him in any real capacity. He had just been a useful piece on the board, but cloning him without his knowledge was low even for Snoke. He'd been naive enough to think that he was the one using Snoke, so sure of his own abilities that he had ignored his father's attempts to reveal Snoke's manipulations.

The moment his father crossed his mind a wave of pain disrupted his focus, dispersing the anger in favor of shame and grief. He'd killed his father for power, and apparently, that power had led Ben on a path to disgrace and death. It had been his downfall. 

Kylo held onto that shame and shaped it into a white-hot ball of burning rage. This time it was anger at himself and it burned hotter than his anger at Snoke. He'd always hated himself the most. 

His parents had fought because of him. His uncle had looked inside him and seen a monster. Tai was dead because of him. His father was dead. His mother.

Kylo fisted his hands where they lay on his thighs. All of it was his fault. 

The shame and guilt fed his rage and once it was hot enough, he finally felt the Force rising around him. Immense waves of the Dark Side swelling around him, whispering for him to just reach out and take the power. With that power, he could reshape his destiny and fix the mistakes that Ben had made. 

He stretched out with his mind, but no matter how clearly he could feel the tide of power battering at the edges of his consciousness he couldn't grasp it. It still felt muffled in ways he didn't understand. By sheer force of will, he managed to summon enough power to elevate the shards of rock a few inches off the ground. They hovered for a moment, making him feel briefly triumphant before the power drained away and they fell to the ground. 

"Fuck!" Kylo yelled, punching the ground with his fists. 

Clearly, this wasn't working. The Dark Side was second nature to him. He knew how to embrace the raw emotions that gave him power--he wasn't an ignorant padawan relying on instinct and chance--but this place wasn't enough to break through the barrier. 

If he was honest with himself he'd known that it wouldn't work before he'd even arrived. The place that had truly formed him and forged his fear wasn't a barren rock in the middle of nowhere. No, his path had been set earlier. 

He was going to have to revisit much deeper wounds.

**

There wasn't much left. What hadn't been destroyed before had succumbed to the environment over the years. The once proud school, Skywalker's pride, was now little more than a ruin.

Kylo shivered despite the heat. This was the last place he wanted to be. He'd run from here six years ago--make that seven years now, that missing year was taunting him. But that was a concern for later. Right now he really needed to fix whatever had ruined his ability to use the Force. He refused to accept that the problem could simply be because he was a clone. The research Hux had collected indicated he should be fully functional. 

Kylo took a deep breath, steeling himself, and walked closer to the school. There were still a few pieces of wood, charred black from the fire, scattered across the barren earth, but most of what was left was stone. The dome itself was still standing although it didn't look particularly stable.

Between one blink and the next everything changed. Suddenly the school was engulfed in blue fire and Voe and Hennix were staring him down, lightsabers drawn. Behind them was the hazy figure of Tai trying so desperately to make peace. 

_None of you are Jedi. Do you know how I know that? You're all afraid._

Kylo heard his own words echo, the arrogant statement barely hiding his own fear. 

"We really thought that."

Kylo went rigid at the sound of his own voice and ignored every instinct that told him to turn around, instead keeping his eyes on the angry faces of his fellow students. 

A laugh emanated from behind him, a sad sort of sound. "As if the Jedi never felt fear. They just dealt with it better than the Sith."

"Harnessing the fear gives us power," Kylo said automatically, Snoke's first lesson still fresh in his mind. 

"Learning to deal with fear--not letting it control you--makes you strong," the voice corrected, sounding like an actual Jedi instead of the near Sith he'd become. 

Ben finally appeared in front of Kylo. He was a transparent blue and flickering erratically like a holovid with a bad signal. Kylo didn't have any prior experience with Force ghosts, but he was fairly certain that wasn't supposed to happen. He waved his hand. "It wasn't so bad here."

Kylo felt the surge of energy from Ben and suddenly the flames were gone. For just a moment he saw the ruin as it once was--a thriving school standing proud. He watched as a younger version of himself walked past, deep in conversation with Tai. The sight hurt him more than he expected and he blinked his eyes several times to banish it. The last thing he truly wanted to do was remember the way things were.

"Death has made you soft," Kylo said once the ruin was back as it should be. 

"Maybe," Ben said. "But being reborn hasn't done much for your personality." He paused and gave Kylo a long, considering look. "I'm surprised you came here at all. Don't you have a Galaxy to conquer?"

"I'm not you," Kylo snapped. 

"Aren't you?" Ben asked. "Or at least a possible version of me. Although maybe you'll make better choices than I did."

"And what choices did you make?" Kylo snapped. Ben's smug attitude was getting on his nerves. "Why isn't the Force responding to me?"

Ben frowned, but before he could answer, he completely flickered out of existence. When he reappeared he was even less substantial. "Go to Crait. You'll find the truth you seek there."

"I don't care about your truth," Kylo snapped, even though it was a lie. He did want to know what happened during his missing year, but he wanted his power back more. 

"You'll find the power you seek on Crait."

This time when Ben flickered out he didn't return. 

"Fuck," Kylo exclaimed. He wanted to lash out and break something, but everything was already broken. "Cryptic asshole."

The only thing that Kylo wanted to do less than follow Ben's command was explore the ruins of the school. There were memories here that were better left buried. But he'd come here for a reason. And that reason wasn't to follow Ben's orders. The things he'd seen on Exegol made Ben the last person he wanted to listen to. 

Besides, he'd already run from here once. He didn't intend to do it again.

Mind made up, he marched forward through the rubble and into the ruins of the building. Even after all this time, this place was as familiar to him as his quarters on the Finalizer. Retracing the steps of his childhood through the destruction was stirring up conflicted emotions, but he didn't push them away. He'd come here to finally confront and embrace the fear this place evoked in his life. The fear he'd felt here had forged his future. The moment he'd awoken to the green light of Skywalker's blade his path had been set. Skywalker's killing intent had been so thick in the Force that he'd nearly choked on it. 

Kylo stopped when he reached his old room. It had been the epicenter of the destruction so there wasn't much left, but he could feel himself in the very rocks. He picked up a large chunk of stone that was lying next to the rotting remains of his bed and closed his eyes. 

A wave of childish anxiety washed over him. He'd done his best to hide his emotions, because Jedi were supposed to be stronger than that, but he'd been cast away by his parents because he was too difficult to handle and was nothing more than a gifted student to his uncle. He'd been desperate to find a place that would accept him. 

The young boy who'd tried to prove himself a worthy padawan to Skywalker had morphed into a depressed teenager dealing with emotions he couldn't understand and then an angry young man haunted by the voices in his head. In the end, the only thing he'd had to cling to was his power. He'd been more skilled than the other students. His destiny had been written in his blood. 

His uncle's betrayal had just been the last in a long line of events that had proven to him that he was a monster like his grandfather.

Kylo squeezed the rock harder, the rough edges digging into his skin, and focused on the night Skywalker had tried to kill him. He could clearly remember the terror he'd felt and he tried to embrace that feeling. He'd spent years of his life tapping into that fear to feed his rage. 

There was so much to be angry about. Anger at his parents for sending him away. Anger at his uncle for never believing in him. Anger at Tai for not letting him go. Anger at Snoke for using him. Anger at Hux for making him want things that distracted from his training. And this room was the root of it all. 

And yet, now that he was here he couldn't feel any of it. Seeing the ruins of his childhood spread out around him he felt nothing. There was no anger and no fear. This place that had driven him to run for years, was nothing but rubble and sad memories. 

The things he had done. The man he had become. They were far darker than this place had ever been. Kylo couldn't fear it anymore and he didn't know who he was without that fear.

**

The space around Crait was full of debris, clear evidence of a battle. It made navigating difficult, but not nearly as hard as the anomalies around Exegol, and Kylo managed to easily make it through. Once he was inside the planet's atmosphere, he brought up the sensor readings on the control panel, searching for First Order wreckage, but he found he didn't need it. The soft tug he'd felt on Exegol was back only this time it wasn't Ben he sensed. This time he could feel the layers of rage and grief that he recognized in himself from the moment he woke up to a world without his parents in it. 

The person whose imprint in the Force called to him bore little resemblance to the Ben Solo he'd met. This person was all Kylo Ren. 

He followed the tug in the Force and landed in the center of a great salt flat, next to the ruins of an AT-M6. The planet looked like a snowy wasteland, reminiscent of the childhood stories that he'd been told about the Rebel base on Hoth, but the air was warm when he left the shuttle. And while the salt may have looked like snow, his footsteps revealed the crimson earth underneath. 

Kylo walked slowly through the wreckage, drawn toward the remains of a large canon. With each step he took, the haze separating him from the Force dissipated like fog under a hot sun. The afterimage of his own rage was suffocating, nearly overwhelming him, but he followed the impression.

_I want every gun we have to fire on that man. Do it. More! More!_

The words reverberated in the Force and with them came the flash of guns firing. The shots streaked by his face, the same hazy blue as Ben's ghost, and he turned to watch them make contact with a figure in the distance. 

_That's enough. That's enough!_

He heard Hux's voice, surprisingly soft at first before it grew harsh and full of its usual disdain. And then he felt his own reaction, the violent outbursts that he aimed at Hux. 

The sharp wave of Hux's fear, followed by pain and a bitter embarrassment nearly choked him. Kylo had had enough. He closed his eyes, willing the images away. He'd already seen enough of Hux's injuries this week.

"I'm here!" Kylo shouted, the rage he felt through the Force stirring up his own anger. It was almost a relief to feel it after the emptiness he'd experienced at the school. But unlike the Force echo, he didn't aim his anger at Hux, instead he directed it at Ben. "Show yourself."

"Always so angry." 

Kylo spun around and found Ben leaning against the canon, his arms crossed over his chest. He was nearly transparent, but his disapproval came through loud and clear. 

"Whatever happened here, wasn't me," Kylo snapped. "That was all you."

"That was _us_."

Kylo shook his head. "Don't put your actions on me."

"Do you really think you'd do it differently?" Ben stepped forward, circling him slowly like some sort of predator cornering its prey. 

Kylo forced himself to stand still and not let Ben's examination get the better of him. He kept a tight rein on his anger, not wanting to give Ben more ammunition against him. He'd already allowed himself to be provoked more than he should. 

"Oh you do," Ben murmured. He gestured to the wreckage all around them. "Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. That's the man who did this."

Kylo's eyes widened. "Supreme Leader?" 

"I killed Snoke," Ben said. "All that power was mine to wield. The entire First Order was mine. You're telling me that you would have rejected that?"

Kylo paused at the thought of all that power. It's what he'd been working toward for years. But he'd already seen the end results of that path. "It didn't seem to do you much good. Dying on Exegol."

Kylo stepped around Ben and started walking toward the base. He didn't look behind him, but he could feel Ben trailing him. He pointed at the scarred earth as he passed it. "What happened here?"

"Skywalker." 

Kylo clenched his fists, an automatic response to hearing his uncle's name. 

"You see why I was so angry."

He did. Luke Skywalker got under his skin like no one else. Even though he wasn't filled with the same type of anger anymore after visiting the school, just thinking about him still made Kylo feel off-kilter and out of control.

_That's enough._

Hux's voice echoed in his mind and he let out a long, calming breath. "Did you kill Skywalker?"

"No," Ben said, softly. "But he _did_ die."

Kylo didn't know how he felt about that. He'd spent years preparing to kill his uncle, but knowing he was dead didn't bring him any pleasure. He didn't feel the expected triumph. But there was no grief either. His uncle's death didn't leave the same gaping absence that his mother had left behind. Skywalker had hidden himself from Kylo for years, so hearing that he was gone didn't change anything. 

He felt like it _should_ change something.

For lack of anything to say, Kylo kept walking toward the base. The shield door had been destroyed and several crystal foxes peeked their heads out at him as he approached. They took one look at him and scampered away, a soft chiming sound following them. 

Kylo could feel his mother here. She'd been anxious and full of fresh grief, but her imprint in the Force still spoke of calm. 

"How did she die?" Kylo asked softly, afraid of the answer. 

"Not here," Ben said. For the first time his voice was gentle. "We didn't kill her. She sacrificed herself to save me."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Kylo asked. 

Ben shook his head. "She's at peace in the Force. She chose that."

Kylo clenched his fist until his nails drew blood. "She sacrificed her life for you and then you turned around and threw it all away for Rey."

"Saving Rey is the one good thing I ever did."

"It was a waste," Kylo said. He shook his head, tired of Ben's revelations. "This is pointless. You told me I could regain my power if I came here."

Ben sighed. "What do you plan to do with the power once you have it?"

It was a good question. Kylo had no idea what to do with himself in this new world. The Order was gone, the path he'd walked for so long had led to his own death. He had no desire to end up the way Ben had. 

"Does it matter?" Kylo asked. "It's my power to do with as I choose."

"No," Ben said. "Palpatine perverted nature with Sith alchemy. You aren't owed anything. It is _my_ power. "

At Ben's words, Kylo opened himself up entirely to the Force, studying it closely. Sure enough, there was a thin thread of energy--a pale lavender cord connecting him to Ben's Force ghost. He could sense the flow of power along that thread. "We're tied together. It's why you're so insubstantial. You're feeding off of my power."

"You have that backward," Ben said. "The power was always mine."

"You've been blocking me this entire time," Kylo accused, suddenly understanding. "You're the one keeping me from being able to touch the Force."

"Not the entire time," Ben said. "Only when your motives were dark."

Kylo thought back to Tatooine when the Force had actually responded to him. He'd been able to play mind tricks on the doctor on Tatooine because Ben had deemed saving a life a worthwhile use of the Force. "You let me save General Hux. His choices were at least as dark as mine and he's unlikely to ever change."

"You might be surprised," Ben said. "He's the one who leaked the Final Order's plans to the Resistance. He saved the Galaxy as surely as Rey." Ben smiled, a wry twist of his lips. "Of course his motives were less pure. He just wanted to beat me, and I suppose he did."

Suddenly Hux's reasons for keeping the past a secret made a lot more sense. Kylo should be mad, but there was something almost funny about it. Despite his loyalty to the First Order, Hux had hated Ben enough to burn everything down. Hux, an ordinary human without any Force sensitivity, had bested not just Ben, but had set events in motion that led to Darth Sidious' destruction.

Ben's eyes widened, appearing genuinely surprised. "That amuses you?"

Kylo shrugged. "We've always underestimated him, haven't we? Besides, he may have hated _you_ that much, but he gave _me_ life."

Ben stepped closer and tilted his head, studying Kylo's face intently. He must have found what he was looking for, because he stepped back, a serene expression on his face for the first time. 

Ben held out his hand and Kylo saw a pair of golden dice resting on his palm. Kylo froze, the sight sending a sudden wave of grief through him. He remembered those dice. His father had let him play with them as a child. He'd cherished them, following his father around the Millenium Falcon with those dice clutched in his hand. At the time he'd wanted to be just like his dad. 

"Very well," Ben said. "I'll keep my promise. The power is yours and so are the choices that come with it."

As Kylo watched, the familiar dice began to glow a pale lavender, Ben's power emanating from them. Ben's choice to use them was cruelly unnecessary. As if Kylo would ever forget what he'd done to his father. 

He hesitantly reached out and took them. As soon as he touched them, he was hit with a wave of energy, like an electric shock. The walls separating him from accessing the Force crumbled and the energy he'd been denied washed over him. 

"Choose wisely," Ben said as he faded out of sight. As soon as he was gone, the dice faded as well, leaving nothing behind.

**

Kylo sat on the wreckage of a ski speeder watching the sun slide below the horizon, its crimson rays shining bright against the expanse of salt. He idly lifted his hand and a nearby speeder lifted up into the air. He barely had to think it, the Force responding like it should. He let his hand drop, the speeder breaking into several pieces as it hit the ground. 

He'd accomplished what he'd set out to do, but he had no idea what came next. The Order was gone and he felt no desire to resurrect it; it would take decades to rebuild it to the power it once was. Besides, it had never really been his. Palpatine had been manipulating everything in the background and Kylo was no one's puppet. 

Rey was still out there somewhere. If he concentrated he could feel her, the familiar life force Ben had imbued her with when he resurrected her calling out to him even from this distance. She was the last Jedi, eliminating her would finally bring about the realization of his goals. He'd spent years training to fulfill his grandfather's legacy, but that had all been a lie. Snoke was gone and he couldn't bring himself to care about supposed prophecies any longer. 

The Kylo Ren who'd spent his life desperate to live up to Vader's legacy had died on Exegol. He could write his own story now. There were no more voices in his head telling him what to do and who to believe. 

Choices. Ben told him the choices were his now. 

Kylo stood up and made his way back to his ship. He didn't know what he wanted to do with this new life, but ever since he'd left Hux on Tatooine, he'd felt like there was unfinished business between them. 

He wondered if Hux was feeling as lost as he was. 

Back in the pilot's seat, Kylo reached out into the Force, trying to find Hux, but the distance was so great that he couldn't distinguish Hux's life force from the billions of others. He thought he should be able to feel him, though, after everything that they'd been through together. He'd always been able to feel his mother, no matter how far away she'd been.

The thought that Hux might not have survived his injuries was more upsetting than he'd expected. But even though he'd spent too many years pushing aside any connection between them, Kylo was certain that he would at least feel Hux's death. The threads of their lives had been too intertwined in the fabric of the Force for him to die unnoticed. 

At least that's what he told himself.

**Part 3: Corellia**

****

Kylo pulled the dark hood of his cloak over his head, hiding his face in shadows as he exited his shuttle. The humid air was thick with smog and the odor of rotting trash. Coronet City was little more than a polluted slum thanks to the shipyards and thriving criminal underworld. Of course, the rest of Corellia wasn't much better. 

He wrinkled his nose. No wonder his father had run from here at the first opportunity. 

On Tatooine he'd encountered an imprint of his father. Apparently, something had happened in a grimy cantina in Mos Eisley that had made such an impression in the Force that it was still present decades later. He hadn't been prepared to feel his father's echo surrounding him and he was afraid Corellia would be worse. After all, Han had lived here for more than twenty years.

But he wasn't like his father, at least not anymore. He wasn't going to run from this place. He was here for a reason.

Kylo marched across the dock and stopped in front of a wall of bounty posters that were cycling through a variety of images. Several of the faces were familiar to him from his time in the Order, but his own wasn't there.

And why should it be? The Resistance thought he'd died saving Rey. Still, he kept his face hidden as best he could. The last several months had taught him that there were enough people who recognized him as the architect of their suffering to cause him problems. He'd eliminated an over eager bounty hunter on Tatooine and there had been a scene in a cantina on Florrum. It wouldn't be long until rumors of his survival spread to the Core Worlds and the fledgeling Galactic Republic. 

He kept watching the faces, until the one he was looking for appeared. It wasn't a clear picture, obviously taken from a distance, but he could still make out Hux. His hair was longer, pulled back into a ponytail, and he appeared to be holding a cane. 

The bounty listed was much higher than the rest. Not only was Hux a former General in the First Order, the man responsible for the destruction of the Hosnian System, but he was also the head of a new cartel made up primarily of former First Order officers who had given up on Galactic domination in favor of more immediate goals. Power abhorred a vacuum, and the aftermath of the war had led to a new wave of lawlessness. 

Kylo had been hearing rumors in cantinas throughout the outer and mid rims of a man known as the General gathering former Order soldiers and sympathizers to his organization. Apparently, Hux had been busy. By the time Kylo had made it back to Tatooine he'd been long gone and it had taken months to track him down. 

Kylo tore his eyes away from the poster and left the dock, turning down a dark alley. All of his intel had pointed to Hux taking up residence on Corellia. It was a risky move for someone of Hux's notoriety, but Hux had always been ambitious. If he could dominate the underworld on Corellia he would become a real galactic powerbroker. 

As he walked, Kylo hesitantly reached out into the Force. He didn't want to encounter his father's imprint, but he needed to locate Hux. Now that they were on the same planet he was able to sort through the tangled mess of lives to find the one he was seeking. After a few moments, his mind brushed against a pulsing grey thread of energy that left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth like the tarine of Hux's favorite tea.

Kylo focused his attention on that thread and followed it through the back alleys. It took him deeper into the city, the buildings growing more derelict as he went. After a while, Hux's aura grew stronger, but its origin was less distinct. Hux had clearly spent a lot of time in this part of the city. He continued to follow the path in the Force, moving in the direction it was strongest, but the path was meandering. 

The crowds thinned out the further he got from the spaceport and the few civilians in the streets hurried about their business trying to avoid the rough-looking people congregating in the shadows. He didn't need the Force to tell him that those people were lower-level members of one criminal gang or another, mostly thieves and muggers looking for their chance.

They all averted their eyes when he passed, likely sensing his power on some primal level. 

Well, almost all of them avoided him. A Rodian child--either very brave or very foolish--bumped into him in a bold attempt to pick his pocket. He wasn't suited to the job, the suction cups on the tips of his fingers made his movement clumsy and caught on the folds of Kylo's cloak. Rodians made skilled bounty hunters, but bad pickpockets.

Kylo grabbed the boy by his tunic, lifting him up to eye level. "What do you think you're doing?"

The boy wasn't impressed by his menacing glare--the same glare that had caused one particularly cowardly lieutenant to piss himself--and kicked Kylo's abdomen over and over again. "Let me go."

"You're lucky I don't kill you," Kylo lifted his free hand and a few credits floated out of the boy's pocket. "I believe these are mine."

"No proof," the boy said sullenly. He gave up on kicking and started pulling at Kylo's fingers, trying to pry them off of his shirt. 

"That's enough." Kylo used the Force to bind the boy's arms and legs in place. "Who do you work for?"

The boy shrugged. He was staring down at his arm, his fingers twitching as he fought against the Force pressure. "Whoever pays me." He looked up at Kylo. "What did you do to me?"

"Do you know a man called the General?"

The boy's eyes widened, showing fear for the first time. Kylo wasn't sure what that said about his own ability to intimidate. The boy hadn't even blinked when he'd used the Force to retrieve his money. "Everybody knows the General."

Kylo held up the credits that the boy had stolen. "Take me to him and these are yours."

The boy eyed the money for a minute before reluctantly nodding. Kylo set him down and he took off at a brisk pace, twisting through several back alleys until they reached a large warehouse. It was nondescript, its derelict appearance and graffiti-covered walls made it identical to hundreds of others in this part of Coronet City. However, when Kylo looked closely, he noticed many hexagons incorporated into the graffiti, each with two silver-edged black stripes running through them. 

Trust Hux to modify the First Order logo and use his own General stripes to make the symbol for his cartel. 

"Welcome to the Imperium," the boy said. He held out his hand for the credits. "I brought you here, but I'm not stupid enough to go in without an invitation."

Kylo tossed the credits to the boy and watched him run off. He must be growing soft, but he almost liked the kid. It was a novel experience having someone completely unafraid of him. 

He turned his attention back to the warehouse. _The Imperium_. It was a ridiculously pretentious name for the rundown hideout of a fledgling criminal enterprise. Although, Kylo had to appreciate Hux's ambition. The man had never lacked for ambition.

Kylo threw back his hood, exposing his face, and marched up to the door. He didn't bother knocking, using the Force to blast it open with a loud bang. Hux wasn't the only one with a flair for the dramatic.

He was greeted by five guards, their blasters aimed at him. A careless flip of his hand and the blasters went flying. 

"You're dead!" The woman in the middle said, her voice trembling. It wasn't a threat, but a terrified indication that she recognized him. He studied her, but while she was vaguely familiar to him, he couldn't place her. He'd never paid much attention to the officers serving him. Hux had been one of the only people to attract his notice at all. 

"I'm afraid I don't have an invitation," Kylo said. "But I need to see Hux."

"Impossible," a young man said, arrogantly. He stood up straighter and glared at Kylo. "The General doesn't just see--" 

"Shut up, you idiot!" The woman interrupted him, elbowing him hard in the ribs. "You can't speak like that to the Supreme Leader."

At least someone was still afraid of him. He used the Force to put the other guards to sleep, their bodies crumbling to the ground, and turned his attention to the woman. "Take me to Hux now."

Glancing at the other guards, the woman swallowed hard. She gave a curt nod after a brief moment of contemplation then led him deeper into the warehouse. It was a huge room, the front devoted to storing a variety of crates. As they moved further back, they passed what looked like a weapons manufacturing operation with both humans and droids lined up in an assembly line. Several of the workers gasped when they caught sight of him, clearly recognizing him unlike the idiot guard with the big mouth. Most of them gaped at him, frozen in shock, but one worker ran up the far stairs as soon as she saw him, likely to warn Hux. 

Unlike downstairs, the upstairs of the building had been partitioned into smaller rooms. They'd probably been offices once upon a time, but Hux's people had turned them into living quarters. Several of the doors were open, revealing bedrooms with small cots as well as a kitchen and other communal rooms. 

The guard led him down several hallways before stopping in front of a door. She hesitated outside for a moment before straightening up and knocking once sharply. 

The door cracked open just far enough to reveal a familiar face. This one Kylo recognized and could even put a name to. He inclined his head. "Lieutenant Mitaka."

Mitaka's eyes were wide and he was radiating fear into the Force, but his voice was steady when he spoke. "The General will see you now."

Mitaka opened the door wide, revealing a large room. Unlike the rest of the rundown warehouse, this room was clean and well-appointed. The walls had been painted a bright white--probably to hide the soot streaks that stained everything in Coronet City--and deep red rugs covered the scarred floors. But what really caught Kylo's eye was the large throne made out of what appeared to be scrap metal. It had a rough industrial appearance, not hiding its origins, but it had clearly been painstakingly made. 

And sitting on the throne was Hux. The chair had clearly been made for him--the back rose up just high enough that the array of spear points on the top edge gleamed like a halo around his head. 

Kylo raised his eyebrow. "Subtle."

Hux held his cane like a scepter, using it to gesture for Mitaka and the other people hovering nearby to leave them. Once they were alone he sat forward and narrowed his eyes at Kylo. "To what do I owe this… pleasure?"

Unsure how to answer, Kylo looked around the room instead, letting his eyes linger on the banners with Hux's new symbol hanging on the walls. "This is excessive."

Hux somehow managed to sit up even straighter, his back rigid and his shoulders squared. His long red hair was loose around his shoulders and gleamed in the artificial light. "I don't want to hear it. You marched around in a knock off Darth Vader costume for years. At least I earned this."

Now that Kylo had full control over the Force again, he could feel Hux's apprehension in all its nuance. For all his bravado, he still felt painfully vulnerable and was using the throne as a kind of armor. 

Not unlike the way Kylo had leaned on his mask. He hated it when Hux was right about him. 

"I earned my power, too," Kylo corrected. "But I wonder what happened to the austere man who was content in his spartan uniform drinking bitter tea?"

"I was never content. I was merely patient." Hux tilted his head, a ghost of a smile crossing his face. "But I do like tarine tea." 

Kylo gestured at the room. "Does this make you content?"

"I wouldn't know the feeling," Hux admitted. "But I'd rather be a leader of criminals than a pawn of fools." He frowned at Kylo. "What are you doing here?"

"I went back to Tatooine," Kylo said. He didn't see any purpose in hiding the truth. They'd both been through too much together to go back to the lies. "You were gone."

"Why would you go back?" Hux sounded genuinely confused. "I expected you to be gathering your own forces by now."

"I don't seem to have the same appetite for galactic domination," Kylo said. "Not now that I know where that path leads." He gave Hux a slow predatory smile. "Remind me not to get on your bad side the way Ben did."

Hux's eyes widened and he gripped his cane tighter, his knuckles turning white. "If you're here for revenge--"

"I'm not," Kylo interrupted. "Without you, I'd still be in that tank. As far as I'm concerned we're even."

Hux appeared relieved for a moment before his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Then what _are_ you doing here?" 

Kylo couldn't bring himself to admit that he'd felt drawn to Hux, even worried about him. This new attempt at honesty didn't extend quite that far. Instead he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Joining up."

Hux's mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed to speak. "You want to join the Imperium?"

"My unique abilities could be an asset."

"No." Hux punctuated his refusal with an aggressive shake of his head. "The mystical nonsense is what went wrong before. You destroyed the Order. You nearly destroyed _me_."

"I'm not _him_ ," Kylo stepped closer to Hux, keeping their eyes locked. "That man died on Exegol. I was never the Supreme Leader." He lowered his voice, trying to be careful with his next words. "I never hurt you on Crait."

Hux inhaled sharply. "You weren't a joy to work with before Starkiller Base either."

"Come on, Hux. Haven't you always wanted to order me around?" 

Kylo didn't realize the way his words could be taken until Hux's eyebrows shot up and a light flush spread across his cheekbones. But still, he managed to keep his voice calm when he spoke. "I suppose, there _is_ a… competitor that needs eliminating. He's well guarded and I haven't wanted to put my men at risk." 

Hux stood up and walked across the room to a control panel. He still had a slight limp, but he barely used the cane. He pressed a few buttons which pulled up a map of the planet and pointed at a spot some ways out to sea. "He's holed up on that island. It's very well defended, but somehow I don't think that will be a problem for you."

Kylo stepped closer, peering over Hux's shoulder. This close he could smell the expensive cologne Hux was wearing. It was a subtle musk with a hint of peppery notes, very different from the scent of the standard-issue soap he'd used for so many years. It was yet another way he was different from the Hux that Kylo used to know, but the change wasn't unwelcome. In fact, Kylo found it very distracting.

Hux stepped away putting a more respectable distance between them. He watched Kylo warily, his expression guarded, and Kylo pushed aside all thoughts of cologne to focus on the map. He magnified the island, studying the terrain while he thought. He doubted Ben would be thrilled if he used this new chance at life to become a murderer for hire, but Kylo certainly wouldn't lose sleep over the death of a criminal. Ben didn't get a say anymore. 

Besides, he was itching to let loose and fight after months of trying to stay under the radar. 

"I don't have a lightsaber, but I doubt anyone there will be much of a threat."

"I've seen you in battle," Hux said. "I'm sure you'll manage with a regular sword. I'll have one located for you."

"And if I do this you'll let me stay?"

Hux pursed his lips. "It's not like I've ever been able to stop you from doing what you want anyway."

**

The wind whipped at Hux's hair, blowing the shorter strands free from his ponytail and straight into his eyes. It was strange having long hair after a lifetime of living by regulations. But it was strangely liberating too--even when it annoyed him. He tucked the loose pieces behind his ear, not taking his eyes off of Ren's dark, cloaked figure as he walked toward the spaceport.

The rooftop door opened, its rusted hinges announcing that he had company, and Hux went rigid. He tried to regulate his response so that he wouldn't look paranoid to his people, but he couldn't stop himself from tightening his grip on his cane just in case. 

"You shouldn't be up here, sir," Mitaka said, disapprovingly. "Your bounty just went up again. Not to mention that unpleasantness with the Hosnian last week."

Hux relaxed his hold on his cane when he heard Mitaka's voice. The assassination attempt last week had them all on edge, but he refused to hide like a scared child. The snipers should keep threats from targeting him on the roof. 

He pointed at Ren who was nearly out of sight. "What do you think about his sudden appearance?"

Mitaka stepped up to stand next to Hux at the edge of the roof. He was the only person that Hux trusted enough to ask about Ren. Hux didn't trust anyone completely, but Mitaka more than most. "He seems different. Trying to prove himself instead of just taking what he wants isn't like him."

Hux hadn't shared with anyone, even Mitaka, that the original Ren was dead. They didn't need to know about the clones--that was his information to wield as needed. But Mitaka was correct. The old Ren would have choked Hux into submission, not agreed to be his personal hit man. 

"The question is, what does he want?" Hux asked. Mitaka didn't even attempt an answer to that question and after a few more minutes Hux turned his back on the city. "Let me know as soon as he returns."

Hux's personal quarters were next to the reception hall but were much more simply adorned. The room was only slightly bigger than those of his subordinates and contained a large bed, a desk, and a large reading chair. The materials were still of fine quality but were made to be functional and not ostentatious. He wasn't trying to impress anyone here. 

He took off his coat and shirt, wincing at the way the motion pulled against his ribs. The Hosnian assassin had gotten a blow in before Hux had killed him, and unfortunately it had hit in the worst possible place. After Exegol, the damage to his body had been much worse than he'd realized, and by the time he'd received medical attention, the doctor had had no choice but to replace his lungs and heart with pulmonodes. It had been a miracle that the back alley doctor on Tatooine had the skill and resources to perform the operation. 

She hadn't even charged him. 

He scowled in the mirror. His newly regrown skin was pink and shiny where it was stretched over his pulmonodes and now there were deep purple bruises mottling the area. He traced over the bruises before letting his fingers run over the raised scars from his surgery. He'd been unconscious, but instead of abandoning him, Ren had actually left him with a competent doctor, probably the only one on that wasteland of a planet. 

He didn't understand why. Ren had never shown him that kind of care before. 

Of course, it didn't matter what Ren's motives were then or now. If there was even a chance that he was truly willing to follow Hux's orders it was an opportunity that he couldn't pass up. There were too many factions closing in on him for him to pass up an ally of Ren's abilities. 

He'd deal with the inevitable consequences later.

Hux got into bed, but instead of sleeping he retrieved his datapad and pulled up the recording he'd gone to great efforts to obtain. Once Hux had recovered from his surgery he'd wondered how he'd ended up in a medical facility with no bills and bionic lungs and so he'd sought answers.

The hologram showed a narrow alley, sand choked and darkened by the shadows of the nearby buildings. He kept his eyes glued to the image until Ren entered the picture. Despite the shadows and static in the recording, Hux had recognized Ren's broad shoulders and heavy gait immediately. And there in his arms, was Hux, cradled gently in a bridal carry. Being treated like a damsel, by Ren of all people, was embarrassing, but the shame of the event had dulled over time, leaving behind a warmth in his chest that grew increasingly and uncomfortably familiar with each rewatch. The recording only lasted a few moments before Ren left the range of the spice den's security camera. No matter how many times he watched, Hux couldn't figure out the intent behind Ren's actions, but he could see how careful Ren had been with him. 

It made him willing to give Ren a chance. 

Hux watched the video one more time, scanning the scene for the thousandth time, before he put the data pad away and turned out the light, hoping for a few solid hours of sleep before Ren returned. 

A soft chime woke Hux a few hours later and he rolled over to retrieve his comlink from the bedside table. "Yes?"

"Kylo Ren has returned," Mitaka reported. 

Hux sat up on the edge of the bed. He'd feel more in control if he met with Ren in the throne room, but he doubted that Ren would be content to wait for him to get dressed and situated. He wasn't a patient man. They would have more privacy here anyway.

"Send him to my quarters."

"Sir?" Mitaka asked, the surprise evident in his voice. "Should I send a guard?"

"If he wants to kill me, a guard isn't going to stop him." Hux tossed the comlink back onto the table and pulled on a plain white shirt and black slacks. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and sat down in his armchair, his cane with its hidden blade near at hand. 

A few minutes later, Ren swept into the room, his cloak spreading out behind him. He must have traveled straight here from the battle since his hair was still wild and tangled, stuck to his face with sweat and blood. The scent of ozone followed him into the room and the air seemed to crackle with energy. Ren was a barely contained storm, his power overflowing to such a degree that even Hux could sense it. Clearly any issues he'd had with the Force before had been rectified.

Hux had seen him like this before, on Mustafar, and it spoke to some primal part of him, filling his belly with heat. Only this time was better than on Mustafar, because Ren had fought for Hux. Because _he'd_ ordered it. Ren was a violent, wild thing, and even the illusion that he could control that fire was intoxicating. 

"It's done."

"You're sure?" Hux asked, keeping his eyes glued to Ren. 

"It's done," Ren repeated. He took the sword off his back and tossed it aside. "That blade is already dull. I need a lightsaber."

"Then we'll get you one." Hux stood up and stepped closer to Ren as if pulled by a magnet. He wasn't entirely prepared for the way seeing the evidence of Ren's violence made him feel. But then again he'd always had a dangerous attraction to Ren. He was just usually better at suppressing it. 

Hux's fingers hovered over a large bloodstain. "Is any of this yours?"

Ren shook his head. 

"Good." Hux glanced over at the sword. It was a well-made weapon, but Ren had managed to dull it in one battle. "How many were there?"

Ren frowned. "Too many. Practically an army."

Hux stepped closer until there was virtually no space between them. "But you killed them on _my_ orders."

Ren nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on Hux's mouth. "I did."

Hux threw caution to the wind and lunged forward, claiming Ren's mouth in a fierce kiss. He wanted this and he was growing accustomed to getting what he wanted. He'd deal with the consequences tomorrow.

Some time later, Ren ran his fingers lightly over the scars on Hux's chest, lingering over the shiny new skin. It was still taut from the regrowth, but he was glad the light from the pulmonodes was finally hidden. He still wasn't sure how he felt about being more machine than man and it was easier to forget about when he couldn't see the unnatural light.

"Pulmonodes?" Ren asked.

Hux nodded. "How did you know?"

"Your life force feels different."

Hux blanched. The words didn't do anything to reassure his fears about his continued humanity. He liked droids--they made sense in ways that humans rarely did--but he didn't want to be one.

Ren must have seen his discomfort because his voice grew softer. "My grandmother had them." His expression grew distant. "Or at least that's what my mother told me. She died on Alderaan so I never met her."

Hux didn't know how to respond to that. They'd never shared such personal things before. A year ago he would have filed the information away as ammunition for the right moment, but he found he'd lost his desire to destroy Ren. At least this version of him. 

Ren's fingers kept exploring and brushed the edges of his bruises, too light to hurt. Hux hadn't realized that Ren could be this gentle. He certainly hadn't been the last time they'd slept together. Back then he hadn't bothered to stay a moment longer than he had to.

Hux wasn't sure how he felt about the post-coital touching and whispered confidences. None of his lovers had ever stayed past the act. 

"What happened?"

"Hosnian," Hux answered. He pushed aside Ren's hand and pulled the sheet up to block his chest from view. The sense of well-being and lassitude from his orgasm was quickly draining away and he was starting to regret leaving himself this vulnerable. "You can leave now, Ren."

Ren frowned. "I'm not him, you know. I'm not the man who hurt you. Call me Kylo."

"You hurt me long before Crait," Hux said. "But very well. Leave, _Kylo_."

It felt strange calling him Kylo--much more intimate than he expected. More intimate than fucking him. 

"I don't have a room yet," Kylo pointed out.

"You really are going to insist on joining up aren't you?" Hux sighed. He studied Kylo's face. "Tell me the truth. Why are you really here?"

"I don't have anyone or anything," Kylo said. "And you're the reason I'm alive."

"Emotional nonsense," Hux scoffed. 

Kylo shrugged. "You've always accused me of being too emotional for my own good."

That was true, but his emotions had never involved Hux before. Unless you counted disdain as an emotion. He frowned at Kylo. "Why did you leave me with a doctor?"

"You would have died if I didn't."

Kylo said it so simply, as if the answer was obvious, but it wasn't to Hux. "I wouldn't have done the same for you."

"I know." 

"As long as you understand." Hux sighed again, too tired for this conversation. "I suppose you can stay here tonight. We'll find you your own room tomorrow."

Kylo smiled at him, so open and honest that Hux had to turn away. 

"Thank you." Kylo slipped his arm around Hux's waist, and pulled him back against his solid chest. 

Hux had never been held before. He assumed his mother must have held him as a child, but he couldn't remember it--or her. The experience made him feel slightly claustrophobic, but also warm in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but he was too tired to argue about it. 

Besides, tonight was an exception. He would allow himself this experiment tonight and tomorrow things would go back to normal.

**

Kylo stood beneath the dais and to the left, while Mitaka stood on Hux's right. He was wearing the new clothes that Hux had presented to him this morning. They were similar to his old costume, but with a red-lined cape and no mask. 

He missed the mask, but Hux wanted people to recognize him as both the Supreme Leader and as Ben Solo. The fact that he was working for the Imperium gave Hux a huge boost in credibility. He'd have personally preferred more anonymity, but he was finding that he would do almost anything for Hux. 

The last few weeks had been the happiest he could remember ever being. Hux had insisted that he have his own room, but Kylo rarely slept in it. He'd even taken to moving some of his clothes into Hux's closet despite the arguments it provoked. He may have been a good little subordinate in public, but he still made his opinion known in private. 

He pulled at the top, trying to get it to lay right. If he'd had his choice he'd be wearing his plain black tunic, but this morning Hux had handed him the costume and told him that if he really was going to stick around then he should look the part. 

"Stop fidgeting," Hux snapped, but there was no bite to it. Their relationship had softened considerably since they'd started sleeping together. "The envoy is on his way up."

Kylo suppressed an eye roll. Hux persisted in using the language of a kingdom instead of the criminal organization that they were.

The man that entered the room was dressed in all black and was wearing a helmet that covered his eyes. As was customary, his weapons had been confiscated at the entrance, but even unarmed there was something dangerous about him.

Kylo straightened and reached out into the Force, brushing the mind of the man in front of him. Strangely, the man was reciting a lullaby, over and over in his mind. It was a familiar tune, one that Kylo remembered his mother singing to him as a child. He could dig deeper into the man's mind, but it wouldn't go unnoticed. 

He frowned, trying to place the lullaby as he watched the man approach the throne. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out his comlink.

"I see you appreciate our gift."

Hux patted the arm of the throne. "It's exquisite."

The man grinned, a sharp and dangerous smile that lacked any humor. "I'm happy to hear it."

The lullaby wavered for a moment, a feeling of triumph briefly overriding the rhyming lines. Once the song resumed, Kylo was finally able to place it. The first time his mother had sung it to him was when she'd just returned from a diplomatic trip to the Hosnian system.

The lullaby wasn't a strange affectation or an earworm. The man was trying to hide his thoughts from Kylo. He knew enough about the Force to try to cloak his mind. 

"No!" Kylo yelled. He threw his hand up trying to stop the man, but it was too late. He'd already pressed the button on his comlink. The explosion that followed wasn't like a blaster bolt that could be caught and deflected. It was a bomb that was too close to Hux to be stopped. 

The throne that Hux had taken such pride in had been hiding a bomb. The targeted device blew Hux off the seat and into the air. It was all Kylo could do to cushion Hux's fall with the Force. 

He spun around toward the man who'd done this, his hand already in the air. He closed his fingers slightly and the man lifted off the ground, grasping at his throat, trying to pry off the invisible fingers. "What did you do!"

"Justice for Hosnian Prime," he managed to gasp out. 

Kylo stared at the man for a moment, before clenching his fist. A wet crunching sound echoed in the now quiet room as the man's windpipe was crushed, and Kylo flung his arm to the side. The man flew across the room, hitting a wall and sliding to the ground in a broken heap. 

A soft wheeze drew him back from his anger and he rushed over to Hux's side. Mitaka was standing over him, wringing his hands. 

"Get a doctor," Kylo ordered.

"Yes, sir," Mitaka answered, running for the door. 

Kylo pulled Hux into his lap, cradling him carefully. His hand shook as it hovered over the bloody ruin of Hux's chest. The damage had gone straight through his body, rending his flesh. He could just barely see the soft glow of the pulmonodes, the normally white light appearing pink as it shined through the blood. The artificial lungs and heart were damaged but still functioning. But the rest of Hux wasn't. 

There was so much blood and each beat of his mechanical heart made more pour out of his wounds. There was no way that a doctor would get here in time. 

Kylo took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he forced himself to clear his mind. His hand steadied as he exhaled and he extended his senses out through his fingers and into Hux with the Force, examining the injuries. 

It was bad. Kylo clenched his fist and opened his eyes, looking down at Hux's pale face as he struggled to breathe. It was a miracle that he was still clinging to life. No one fought to survive like Hux. 

Hux raised one arm and awkwardly tapped Kylo's cheek, his movement lacking coordination. "Why do you look sad?"

The words hit Kylo hard. He stared into the glazed blue eyes and realized that Hux didn't understand how important he was in Kylo's life. Even as his eyes closed and his consciousness began to fade, he didn't understand that Kylo was falling in love with him. That wasn't acceptable. He rested his hand lightly, on Hux's chest. "Stay with me."

He'd never done this before, had only seen it done once, but he knew that the most important part was that he was truly willing to sacrifice himself. His last thought as he pushed his life force out into Hux, was that perhaps he and Ben weren't so different after all. 

**

It was warm. The comforting warmth reminded him of drinking a cup of tarine tea in front of a fire. The kind of warmth that penetrated beyond the flesh. It was the kind of warmth that he'd never truly experienced before. 

"Am I dead?" Hux asked. He remembered an explosion and a brief flash of pain, and then this bizarre warmth.

"Almost."

Hux spun around, not expecting an answer to his question. Hux didn't know if it was a trick of his dying mind but there appeared to be a soft blue light hovering next to him. After a moment the light took shape and solidified into a nearly transparent Kylo Ren. He looked down at his own hands and saw that they were translucent as well, but instead of blue, he was glowing a soft purple. He held up his hands, more closely examining the light. "What is this?"

"His life force," Kylo pointed at another Kylo, one who was solid and real. He was cradling another Hux in his arms. His hand was glowing purple where it rested on Hux's wounded chest. "He's trying to bring you back."

"Why?" 

"Because he's more like me than he wants to admit."

Hux looked closer at the blue figure and saw the differences. His hair was shorter and his face older. "Ben?"

Ben nodded, not taking his eyes off of the scene playing out in front of them. "I sacrificed myself to save Rey."

"And you think he'd do that for me?" Hux scoffed. He and Kylo may have made their peace with each other, and even started exploring the complicated feelings that stretched between them, but that was a far cry from dying for each other. 

Ben was growing fainter, harder to make out. "He already is."

Hux knelt down in front of the duo on the floor. Kylo's eyes were closed, his brow furrowed. His cheeks were damp. "Like hell he is."

The idea that Kylo would die like this--that he would martyr himself so casually--angered Hux. "You work for me now. You aren't allowed to die until _I_ order it!" 

He reached out to push Kylo away, but his hand just passed through the other man.

"You can't stop him," Ben said. "He's made up his mind. Although I wonder if you're worth it."

Hux scowled at Ben. "You're both idiots. Self-sacrificing idiots. Much too emotional."

Ben smiled at him. "I'm surprised you care. After all, you've spent years plotting my death."

Hux looked down at Kylo, the tears dripping from his face as he poured everything he was into Hux. "He's not you."

For the first time, he truly believed it. The ghost standing next to him would have never sacrificed his life for him. "I'm glad you're dead because he's a much better man than you ever were."

Hux moved around behind Kylo and wrapped his arms around him from behind. He focused all of his determination into his arms, hoping to make them solid. "That's enough."

Kylo's head jerked up at the words as if he'd heard them. "Hux?"

He shook his head and went back to working on Hux's chest. Hux looked over at Ben, he was little more than a foggy outline now. "Put me back into my body."

"The tether is yours." Ben pointed at the thread that trailed from Hux's chest to the body in Kylo's arms. "He's already doing everything he can to keep it from breaking."

Hux grabbed the thread with both hands. He had no idea what he was doing, the realm of the mystical was outside of his comfort zone, but he knew that using the Force was about willpower and he'd never lacked for willpower. 

"Put me back," Hux ordered the thread. "Now!"

The world around him lurched and there was a sensation of falling before everything went black. 

The peace that he'd felt was gone and the pain was back. Just being alive hurt so much that it was hard to think, making his mind fuzzy. For a brief moment, hallucination or not, he'd felt content--at least until he'd realized that Kylo was dying. Still, he couldn't remember ever feeling that way before. 

The warmth that had been all around him was now concentrated in his chest. He could feel the heat pumping into him and he opened his eyes. Kylo's hand was on his chest, although the purple light was gone. He looked closer and he could actually see the flesh knitting back together in front of his eyes. 

He looked up at Kylo's face. He was pale, his skin nearly translucent, but his face was set in a mask of determination. "Stop."

Kylo didn't open his eyes and Hux could still feel the life force pumping him to him. 

"Self-sacrificing idiot," Hux muttered. He mustered what strength he had and grabbed Kylo's hand, pulling it off of his chest. "I said stop."

The warmth disappeared, leaving a cold ache in its wake, but Hux could still breathe. That's all that mattered. "You did enough."

Kylo's eyes snapped open and he looked down at Hux, surprise and relief warring on his face before he slumped over unconscious. His head resting on Hux's shoulder.

Hux held his breath until he was sure that Kylo's chest was steadily rising and falling. He reached out and rested his hand on the side of Kylo's, twining his fingers into the long hair. "You are such a fool."

Once upon a time, he'd daydreamed about standing over Kylo's dead body. What a difference a year made.

**

Hux woke up when the proximity alarms went off. He grabbed his blaster and moved slowly to the cockpit. He was still recovering from his injuries. It was going to be a long process until Kylo managed to find him a bacta tank like he'd promised.

Speaking of the idiot, the scanners confirmed that Kylo was the cause of the proximity alarms. He didn't have the energy to move back to the bed so he waited in the cockpit for Kylo.

"You should be in bed," Kylo said reproachfully. 

"If you want me to rest you shouldn't set off the proximity alarms," Hux looked at Kylo's bag curiously. "Did you get it?"

Kylo sat down in the pilot seat and pulled out a small crystal. It glowed a faint lavender in his hand, the shade strangely familiar to Hux. 

"It won't be red," Kylo said. He cradled the crystal carefully, his thumb caressing it gently. "I won't let it be red."

Hux may have had first-hand experience with the Force now, but he still didn't understand much about it. However, legend said that all the Dark Side devotees had red lightsabers. He wasn't really sure what Kylo was now, but he was much too sentimental to be fully Dark Side any longer. 

"Purple suits you," Hux said. 

"The books say that purple Kyber crystals are for people who use both the Light and the Dark." Kylo carefully tucked it away in the bag. "I think that suits me." He keyed in some coordinates. "Now to get you to a bacta tank."

Hux knew that they could have found a bacta tank on Corellia, but Kylo needed a new lightsaber and he wasn't about to let Hux out of his sight after what happened. And frankly, Hux wasn't ready to let Kylo out of his sight either. The self-sacrificing fool didn't have enough sense to survive without Hux watching him. 

"Yes, I'd prefer not to leave my empire in Mitaka's hands for longer than necessary."

The ship took off, Kylo skillfully guiding it out of the atmosphere. "I'll get you back in no time."

Hux settled back into the seat. "I know. I trust you."

And the strange thing was he did. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated.
> 
> All of my social media info is in my profile and once again, please go leave love on niibeth's art here:
> 
> [Art Post](https://niibeth.tumblr.com/post/639275546497384448/illustrations-2020)


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